Russia: Putin Says Illegal Russian Timber Export Must Stop
Putin Says Illegal Russian Timber Export Must Stop
(published by BBC, 27 February 2004)
Krasnoyarsk — The Russian government must stop illegal timber exports, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Krasnoyarsk students on Friday (27 February), ITAR-TASS reported. He did not elaborate. Putin said the timber industry is very promising for Krasnoyarsk Territory and it is important to develop it using hi-tech equipment, without harming the environment.
According to the State Forestry Service, Russia’s total timber resources are estimated at 80bn cubic metres of wood and increase by 90m cubic meters annually.
The low price of timber resources has allowed a low-level forestry culture to rule and led to extensive and irrational practices being used that have a negative impact on the industry, Valeriy Roshchupkin, the head of the State Forestry Service, said in October 2003.
Officials earlier said that Russian companies should export processed timber rather than logs.
BBC Monitoring International Reports, 27 February 2004
